Am I stereotyping the South? I don't think so. Consider the following: In 2004, voters in 11 states approved measures that banned same-sex marriage. Four of these states can be considered Southern: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi. The Mississippi measure passed with 86 percent of the vote, and in each of these states, to quote MSNBC.com, "the amendments received at least three-quarters of the votes."

I don't mean to imply that there aren't good people throughout the South who support gay rights. There are. However, the region still suffers from hostility toward gay people. So does Massachusetts, but the Bay State, regardless of its deficiencies, is still the only one that has passed gay marriage.

Actually, the legislature of California is the only one that has "passed" gay marriage. So the kudos should go to California. The gay marriage status in Massachusetts is declared by fiat by judges, which isn't quite the same thing. It's also not very helpful for gay rights, as pronouncements by judges in this sort of thing just incense people and doesn't advance social causes much.

Massachusetts is actually much more intolerant than the South, if you spend some time in Western Mass. you'll miss California terribly.